Indianapolis -- A lot of good vibes surrounded Indianapolis Colts Coach Jim Caldwell and the organization's headquarters Monday as the team began the task of killing the dreams of the New Orleans Saints.

The Associated PressIndianapolis Colts coach Jim Caldwell has eased into his role, and helped guide a talented team.As it has been throughout his rookie season as a coach, Caldwell's deportment was flawlessly professional as he made it clear sentiment would not be allowed to cloud the focus or dim the goal of the Colts, which is to beat New Orleans in Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7 in Miami.

"We're not trying to stamp it out; we're just trying to get into a position to win," he said when asked about playing the role of the spoiler in the incredible tale that has been the Saints run to the franchise's first NFC title.

"I think it's a great story, and certainly they've done so much for that city," Caldwell said. "That region was absolutely devastated, and they've brought a lot of pride back, a lot of civic pride. Just the enthusiasm you can see surrounding that team is incredible. You saw the pictures of Bourbon Street and Canal Street after that win (a 31-28 victory in overtime against the visiting Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night) it was absolutely unbelievable."

Lest anyone mistake Caldwell for a Big Easy novice, he noted he recruited St. Augustine players and others in the area when he began his coaching career at Southern Illinois. But a fondness for New Orleans and an appreciation of its survival does not translate into any waffling on what he wants to happen.

"I understand a bit about the culture, and they have a lot of pride -- and we don't want to stamp out any of that," he said. "We hope that continues, but we want to win this ball game."

That concentration seems to permeate the Colts organization, from quarterback Peyton Manning -- a standout at Newman School -- on the field through Caldwell on the sideline and into the front office. It has been instrumental in creating a team in the midst of an eight-year consecutive playoff run, which is the longest such streak in the NFL.

After beating the visiting New York Jets 30-17 in the AFC championship game Sunday, Manning brushed aside a question about whether a part of him was rooting for the Saints, his hometown team. He recalled that in 2006, when the Colts beat the New England Patriots to advance to the Super Bowl, theirs was the late game -- and he watched the Saints fall in Chicago in the NFC title game.

Manning and the other Colts were largely absent Monday, but they will report for their first meetings today. The team will begin practice and drawing up the game plan, then head to Miami -- the site of all four Super Bowls in which the Colts will have appeared in -- Monday.

Caldwell said he hoped the fact that 25 Colts were on the Super Bowl XLI team (which beat the Chicago Bears 29-17), and the fact the team will use the same hotel and practice facilities in Miami will give the team an edge -- but he allowed it won't be much of one in any event.

"Yeah, that does indeed help, but it doesn't give you any guarantees," he said.

Caldwell and Manning have been together much of that time. Caldwell spent three seasons as the Colts' quarterback coach before then-coach Tony Dungy made him assistant head coach and his heir apparent prior to the 2005 season.

As for the Saints, Caldwell had nothing but praise.

"They present a lot of problems, obviously. They are tough to handle," Caldwell said. "Teams, when they get to this point, they don't have too many holes -- and they certainly don't."

But that just turns the wheel back to football, right where the Colts want it. Caldwell said he enjoyed the AFC title "for a couple of hours," then drifted back to work almost unconsciously.

"In coaching, wins like that are very fleeting experiences," he said. "They leave you quickly. Last night, it didn't take very long. I was sitting down to dinner with my folks and my wife and kids and watching the ballgame. I started analyzing that game just like I was working, so it doesn't take long. And then all of a sudden, you see what problems you may have, what problems may occur. It doesn't take long for us to get focused on that next ballgame."

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James Varney can be reached at jvarney@timespicayune.com or 504.717.1156.